Gabriel Von Seidl – Trail a Tour Through Munich’S City Centre Dear Readers

City of Munich Department of Urban Planning Gabriel von Seidl – Trail A tour through Munich’s city centre Dear readers, The architect Gabriel von Seidl (1848-1913) from Munich is considered one of the most important representatives of historicism in Germany. He focused intensely on the use of forms from the Renaissance and Baroque era and, in combination with traditional style elements, created what is today considered as typical expression of Bavarian vernacular style from Munich, going far beyond typical idealized versions from the era. The resulting numerous distinctive buildings designed by Gabriel von Seidl characterise his home town of Munich to this day, and counterpose the ever increasing globalised architectural language with soothing individual accents. Among his most well known works are the Münchner Künstlerhaus at the Lenbachplatz, the facades of the Karlstor Rondell buildings, the Lenbachhaus, as well as the Bayerische Nationalmuseum and the Deutsche Museum. Gabriel von Seidl also advocated the preservation of significant buildings and monuments and showed a marked affinity to nature and countryside. As founder of the Isartalverein, an association for the preservation of the Isar valley, he opposed the threatened destruction of the valley by property developers with concrete action, and may therefore be considered one of the first cityscape guardians and conservationists. Gabriel von Seidl in seinem Atelier On the 100th anniversary of Gabriel von Seidl’s death, we would like to cordially invite you to follow his trail through the city and, with this in mind, to promote the message conveyed by his buildings and his personal efforts. Prof. Dr.(I) Elisabeth Merk, City Councillor for the state capital of Munich. Prof. Dr. Andres Lepik, Director of the Architekturmuseum, TU München. Erich Rühmer, Chairman of the Isartalverein e.V., former Mayor. Gabriel von Seidl Gabriel von Seidl (1848 – 1913) was one of the most important that, like the “German room”, became an incarnation for the redis- architects of late historicism in Germany. He shaped the image of covery of the German Renaissance style. With the founding of the Munich to this day with numerous buildings and squares. Charac- German Empire in 1871, a national style had been found, which teristic of his architecture is a masterly, independent handling of in contrast to Classicism was aiming for a picturesque effect. The all styles, which he varied depending on the construction project, architecture was meant to capture living traditions, using regional commissioner or urban-planning context. He was a close friend building motifs as a means of achieving artistic expression. of Franz von Lenbach, August von Kaulbach and Rudolf Seitz, accomplished numerous interior designs and, furthermore, made Alongside the ‘German house’, Seidl was designing his own his name as a conservationist. house on the corner of Mars-/Seidlstraße and installed his architectural office in the back buildings. The Hamburg City Coun- Although Seidl wanted to become a painter, to please his father cillor Fritz Schumacher (1869-1947), who during his university he initially completed an apprenticeship as a locksmith. He then studies had spent a short period working for Seidl, later reported began to study engineering and in 1869 switched to the newly in his memoires of Seidl’s impressive and confident manner of founded Polytechnikum, now known as the Technische Universität designing. Surrounded by hundreds of slip boxes, Seidl would pick München, in order to study architecture under Gottfried von Neu- out photographs, ornamental prints and individual sketches and reuther. After receiving his diploma in 1874, he became a member compose, as required by the building commission, ever-new buil- of the Bayerischer Kunstgewerbe-Verein, an arts and crafts dings of great suggestive effect, which he cleverly integrated into association. In 1876, he participated in the exhibition “Unser the urban space. In the example of the Ruffinihaus on the Rin- Väter Werke” in the Glaspalast in Munich, a renowned exhibition dermarkt, he incorporated the old Munich townhouse tradition in building, with a living room furnishing in the style of the German plaster facades and stuccowork. In the noble Brienner- and Max- Renaissance. This ‘German room’ made him famous over night. Joseph Straße, Seidl created the Haus Böhler and the Schrenck- As a result, Seidl received numerous commissions and with the Notzing Palais in the Italian Renaissance style. In the case of the help of the sculptor Lorenz Gedon, as well as the painters Rudolf Kaulbach- and Lenbachhaus, he took up the classic Italian villa Seitz and Franz von Lenbach, he became a member of the influen- architecture; with the Karsplatz Rondell storey additions it was tial art society Allotria. new Baroque, and with the St. Anna-Kirche im Lehel or St. Rupert on the Gollierplatz, he created new Romanesque forms. Seidl received his first building commission in 1879 from his uncle Gabriel Sedlmayr, who stemmed from the beer-brewing dynasty In the case of the brewery taverns and beer palaces commissi- Spaten. The commission was for a ‘German house’ with dining oned by Sedlmayr – amongst others the Arzberger Keller on the rooms in the Sophienstraße, with a spectacularly high gabled roof Nymphenburger Straße, the Franziskanerkeller on the Hochstraße and the Spatenbräu in Berlin – Seidl created the cosy atmosphere Crown “Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts”. of a typical Bavarian beer cellar using simple wood panelled rooms and thereby made the building style famous around the The deepened national identity that resulted from the founding of world. the German Empire had increasingly focused public interest on the preservation of the home and the countryside. Seidl was also Within the space of just ten years, Seidl became one of the most a passionately committed conservationist and patroniser of en- influential architects in Munich. The character and atmosphere demic, rural building styles. In Bad Tölz, his mother’s hometown, of his buildings was much admired and he lent an architectural he proposed the redesign of the façade of the houses on the expression to the artistic city of Munich. Here only Friedrich von Marktstraße, in order to embellish the town. In 1902, he founded Thiersch (1852-1921) was held in similar esteem. Seidl also con- the “Verein zur Erhaltung der landschaftlichen Schönheiten der structed significant buildings outside his hometown, such as the Umgebung Münchens, besonders des Isartales” (Isartalverein), Historische Museum in Speyer, Villa Walther Rathenau in Berlin the aforementioned society for the preservation of the Isartal. And (destroyed) or Schloss Neubeuern in the Inntal. His participation at when in 1904, the “Bund für Heimatschutz” was set up with the the World Exhibition in 1893, together with Franz von Lenbach and aim of promoting the vernacular style within architecture, Seidl, Rudolf Seitz in Chicago, in Paris in 1900 and in St. Louis in 1904, together with Theodor Fischer and Hermann Muthesius, was one made Seidl a representative of German architecture overseas and of the founding members. he was awarded numerous prizes. The last great buildings constructed by von Seidl are the Bremer With the Künstlerhaus am Lenbachplatz, a centre for Munich’s Stadthaus, which he integrated alongside the old Renaissance artistic movement and the new construction of the Bayerische town hall into the historic urban space, as well as the Deutsche Nationalmuseum on the Prinzregentenstraße, he reached the ze- Museum that he built in parts, and which was later, following his nith of his career. As an architectural response to Albert Schmidt’s death in 1913, completed by his younger brother Emanuel (1856 new Romanesque synagogue and Friedrich von Thiersch’s new – 1919) who had also studied architecture. Celebrated as a prota- Baroque Palace of Justice, he created a new Renaissance building gonist of a new endemic building style during his lifetime, his ar- with the Künstlerhaus. In the case of the monumental structure chitectural approach was suppressed by the Moderne, the historic of the Bayerische Nationalmuseum however, Seidl freely used ar- forms rejected as eclectic and uncreative. Gabriel von Seidl’s idea chitectural forms that evoke buildings from German Renaissance of designing from within the city and including regional features architecture – Friedrich Sustris, Elias Holl or Paul Francke. was impressively continued by the next Munich based generation Following the opening in 1900, he was elevated to the peerage of architects, with Hans Grässel (1860-1939) and Theodor Fischer by the Prince Regent Luitpold von Bayern in thanks for his efforts (1962-1938) and thereby strengthened today’s perception of and in 1908, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Bavarian typical Bavarian architecture. Irene Meissner, Architekturmuseum, TU München 1 Lenbachhaus, Luisenstraße 33, 1887 -1892 Initially, the Lenbachhaus was the studio and home of the painter Franz von Lenbach. Gabriel von Seidl’s design demonstrates the intense involvement with the Italian Renaissance. The long, stretched studio building was designed around models of Italian garden casinos, the originally freestanding house in the style of an Italian suburban villa from the 16th Century. A picturesquely designed garden complements the estate of the Arcadian garden villa. Lenbach’s representational rooms on the first floor of the re- sidence remain preserved as a stunning example for the interior design qualities of Gabriel von Seidl. It was only when Franz von Lenbach’s widow made the transfer to the city of Munich that Hans Grässel added the northern exhibition wing in 1927/28, to complete the construction. Ehem. Palais Schrenck-Notzing, Max-Joseph-Straße 9, 1904 -1906 The noble palace built for the offspring of an old established Mu- nich patrician family demonstrates Gabriel von Seidl’s architectural language in its most elegant form. As a freestanding cube, the building integrates itself into the classical neighbourhood around the Karolinenplatz. By means of the exterior design, the architect evokes outstanding buildings from the Roman High Renaissance.

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